BRAZIL · BANKING

Thirteen years after it started in a house in Sao Paulo, Latin America’s largest digital bank has opened for business in the market that ignored it.

Downtown Miami. The bank’s United States operation is run from the city, not from Sao Paulo. (Photo: “Downtown Miami Skyline (Southern View)” by LonnyPaul, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.)

Nubank opened for business in the United States on Thursday 10 September. The announcement was made at an event in Miami.

Nubank is the largest digital bank in Latin America. It had 139 million customers at the end of June.

What it does not yet have is an American banking licence of its own. It is operating on someone else’s.

What Is Actually on Offer

There are two domestic products and one that is not domestic at all. Do not let the coverage merge them.

The deposit account pays 3.50 percent a year on all balances, with interest credited daily. It comes with a debit card and fee-free transfers to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.

A boosted rate of 4.50 percent applies to savings goals up to US$10,000. That requires holding the credit card and making three qualifying transactions in 34 days.

The credit card pays 1.5 percent cashback with no annual fee. The rate rises to 2 percent under conditions, and early customers get a metal card.

The third product is separate and global. It holds balances as digital dollars or digital euros and comes with a virtual Mastercard for use in more than 35 countries.

The Licence Question

Nubank is running on a sponsor arrangement with Lead Bank, which carries deposit insurance. That is a common route for a foreign entrant in a hurry.

It is not the same as having a charter. Nubank applied for a national bank charter on 30 September 2025.

Regulators gave conditional approval on 30 January 2026. That is fast by historical standards.

The conditions bite. Nubank must be fully capitalised within twelve months and open within eighteen.

Approvals from the Federal Reserve and the deposit insurer are still outstanding. Until those land, it is not a chartered American bank.

Sao Paulo, where the bank was founded in 2013. Brazil still accounts for about 118 million of its customers. (Photo: “SP from Altino Arantes Building” by Deni Williams, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.)

What Nu Holdings does. Nu Holdings Ltd. provides digital banking platform in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, the Cayman Islands, and the United States. The company provides spending solutions comprising Nu credit and prepaid card, a digitally enabled card that acts as a credit and a prepaid card; Nubank+ Tier, an evolution of the Nu experience; Ultraviolet credit…

Who Is Running It

The United States business is led by Cristina Junqueira, a co-founder, who moved to Miami about two years ago. She is chief executive of the American arm.

David Velez, the group chief executive, framed the launch as a new chapter. He called it the next step after thirteen years that began in a small house in Sao Paulo.

Junqueira has been blunt about why other Latin American fintechs failed in the country. She says they sent executives who were too junior.

On American regulation she was equally direct. Her line was that it is what it is and you deal with it.

The Numbers Behind the Move

Nubank’s second-quarter results, published on 13 August, showed 139 million customers. Around 118 million are in Brazil.

Mexico accounts for 15.8 million and Colombia for more than five million. Net income passed US$1 billion in a quarter for the first time.

The launch materials use a looser figure of more than 140 million. The reported number for the quarter is 139 million.

How the Market Took It

Nubank shares are listed in New York. They fell about 2.3 percent to US$14.67 on Friday 11 September.

That is not the reaction a company hopes for. Analysts are divided on why.

One industry analyst calls the partner-bank structure a bridge, useful for building a customer base before the charter arrives. The implication is that it is temporary by design.

Others point at the competition. One brokerage described the American field as stiff, with rivals as sophisticated as the newcomer.

A more positive note kept a buy rating with a US$19 target. It argued the products compare well on deposits, cards and transfers.

What to Watch

The obvious risk is the charter timetable. A sponsor-bank model carries constraints that make long-term operation awkward.

The second is regulation of the global product. Proposed American rules on yields paid over digital dollar balances bear directly on what it can offer.

The third is simply Revolut, which is pushing into the same market. The American consumer is not short of digital banking options.

The transfer corridors are the real tell. A bank that can move money between the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia without fees is aiming at a specific customer.

More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Nubank launch in the United States?

Thursday 10 September 2026, announced at an event in Miami. Sign-ups opened the same day, with products released in phases.

What interest does the account pay?

3.50 percent a year on all balances, with a boosted 4.50 percent on savings goals up to US$10,000 under conditions.

Does it have an American banking licence?

Not its own. It operates through Lead Bank while its national charter application holds conditional approval from January 2026.

How big is the bank?

139 million customers at the end of June 2026, of whom about 118 million are in Brazil, 15.8 million in Mexico and over five million in Colombia.

How did the shares react?

They fell about 2.3 percent to US$14.67 on Friday 11 September, the day after the announcement.

Sources: Nu Holdings, Fortune, American Banker, PYMNTS, Banking Dive, Benzinga, OCC.